Jackie Chan: US is the ‘Most Corrupt’ Country in the World

Giving an interview to China’s Phoenix TV last month, Jackie Chan ruffled some feathers by claiming that the United States is the “most corrupt” country in the world.

Chan is a one of the world’s most famous actors for his work in martial arts movies.

During the Chinese television interview Chan stated, “When you talk about corruption — the whole world, is there corruption in the United States? The most corrupt in the world!” When questioned further by the interviewer he added “Of course! Where did the great breakdown come from? The world, the United States started it.”

With his second comment he was referring specifically to the recent world financial crisis.

It’s an oddly controversial stance for an actor with such universal appeal. One wonders if he would ever express such views in American interviews.

To his actual point … well, I’m not sure exactly what he’s referring to. It’s true that much of the damage done by the financial crisis originated in the US, but is he claiming that this makes American society corrupt or just our financial system.

On the latter point he’d probably have quite a number of supporters, on the former, well, he’s going to make a lot of people angry.